It's hard to imagine any of Russia's current leaders getting a birthday
party like the one thrown Monday at Moscow's Ismailovsky Hotel for the
former despot, Josef Stalin. The grand hall was packed beyond capacity with
more than 2,000 revelers  some of whom wept as patriotic poems were
read. Famous actresses sang ballads with the backing of a full military
orchestra. And towering over the stage was an enormous portrait of the
birthday boy in his military regalia, adding an element of the surreal to
the entire scene.

What may be more surreal, however, is the resurgent popularity that Stalin
is enjoying at the moment in Russia. Just in time for the 130th anniversary
of his birth on Dec. 21, the state-run polling agency VTsIOM released a
survey showing that despite the millions of Soviet citizens who fell victim
to purges, starvation and summary executions under Stalin's regime, 54% of
Russians now have a high opinion of his leadership qualities. And when asked
about his personal attributes, 50% of respondents said they viewed them as
average or above average  up from 45% when the same survey was conducted
in 2000. (See pictures of Russia celebrating Victory Day.)

This is no historical accident. The Russian government has been sending
clear signals in recent years that Stalin's achievements must be revered
 despite the "mistakes," as officials often put it, that were made
during his time in power. During Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's annual
call-in TV show earlier this month, which included several staged questions
aimed at sending the public a message, Putin warned Russians against making
any "overall judgment" against Stalin. To prove his point, he cited the
forced collectivization of agriculture, a process that historians say caused
millions of deaths from starvation in the 1920s and '30s, when Stalin was
general secretary of the Communist party. "It's true, there was no peasantry
left after that," Putin said. "Everything that happened in this sphere did
not have any positive effect on the villages. But after all we did get
industrialization." (Read: "Putin: Yes, I May Run Again. Thanks for Asking.")

Last year, a new history textbook was adopted for schools, which makes
mention of the repressions of the Stalin era, but also describes the leader
as a "competent manager." The characterization in the book  written with
the help of a historian from Putin's United Russia party  drew fierce
criticism from historians in Russia and abroad. But perhaps the most blatant
example of rewriting history yet came in August, when the city of Moscow
unveiled an inscription to Stalin in the marble entryway of the Kurskaya
Metro station. In giant letters, it reads: "Stalin raised us to be loyal to
the fatherland, inspired us to labor and great works." The praise caused an
outcry from human rights groups and opposition politicians, but officials
haven't taken any actions to remove it. (See pictures of Putin on vacation.)

What's behind the move by the government to rehabilitate Stalin's image in
the eyes of the public? Some opposition politicians believe it's tied to the
United Russia party's efforts to solidify its power. "The state is hinting
that Stalin's tactics are also part of its arsenal for controlling the
country," says Sergei Mitrokhin, the leader of the opposition Yabloko party.
The widespread sympathy toward Stalin, he adds, is also a result of the
lingering impact of Soviet propaganda, which the Russian government never
tried to erase from the public consciousness after communism fell. "All
countries emerging from totalitarianism and evolving into a normal form of
government carried out a long and difficult program of reforms and
re-education, of coming to grips with the past," he says. "Germany is still
carrying out de-Nazification, while we never even began this process."

Not everyone in the higher echelons of government has signed on to this
official makeover of Stalin's image, though. On Oct. 30, the official day of
mourning for the victims of Stalin's regime, President Dmitry Mevdedev said
that Russia "must not allow those who destroyed their own people to be
defended under the banner of restoring historical justice. ... There can be
no justification for repressions." But his plea, issued in a video blog on
the Kremlin website, largely fell on deaf ears. The blog posting reached
nowhere near as many people as the Putin call-in show, which was broadcast
on state-run TV channels across the country. Medvedev's video also got scant
attention in the Russian media. (Read: "Death In The Kremlin: The Heart Stops Beating.")

At the birthday celebration on Monday, which was organized by the Communist
party, the majority of the attendees were World War II veterans bred on
Stalinist propaganda. But hundreds of younger people also sat in the
auditorium or milled around the vestibule as the musicians performed. One of
them, Vadim Kasimov, a secretary of the Union of Communist Youth, said that
Stalin's legacy is one of his group's best tools for recruiting new members.
"Young people, when they think of him at all, think of him as a strong
leader, a vibrant personality, and what he stood for they often want to
emulate," he says. (See TIME's City Guide to Moscow.)

Whether or not young people follow in Stalin's footsteps, the government
looks to be succeeding in dispelling some of the outrage felt by Russians
toward his terror-filled reign. He may very well be remembered one day as a
strong, competent leader who made some mistakes  and whose birthday will
always call for a celebration.